“When you see in the traditional fighting classifications that they say the name of all the regions except yours, the Sahel, you can’t sleep afterwards,” says Issouf Diallo, 22 years old. This young man comes from Dori, capital of the Sahel administrative region, the northernmost of Burkina Faso. This city has been under a jihadist blockade for more than two years, which means that there is only one road that connects it with the rest of the country and it is not always passable due to the dangers of terrorist attacks and explosive mines. But Diallo was clear: “If they tell you that you have to go represent your region at the national level, you have to go, even if it is in a military convoy.” And so it happened.
Diallo competed from April 27 to May 4 in the disciplines of archery and traditional wrestling in the national championship that was held in the city of Bobo-Dioulasso, in the southwest of the country, within the framework of the National Archery Week. Culture. Every two years this event brings together artists, artisans, dance groups, traditional songs, traditional wrestling and archery from the 13 regions of Burkina Faso. Her traveling companion, Kadiata Tamboura, 25, won third place in traditional wrestling in the women’s category. “I am very proud to represent my region and be able to express myself, show our resilience,” she says.
The Sahel is the area of Burkina Faso with the most internally displaced people – at least 500,000 out of a total of two million – according to the latest United Nations report, from the end of January, as a consequence of jihadist violence in the region, which has been increased by extreme poverty and climate change. Almost half of the country’s territory is outside state control.
If they tell you that you have to go represent your region at the national level, you have to go, even if it is in a military convoy
Issouf Diallo
Both Diallo and Tamboura had not left Dori for more than two years due to the control of the main roads by terrorist groups. But this time, thanks to the organization of a military convoy that accompanied them during the 300 kilometers that separate Dori from the capital, Ouagadougou, they participated in the National Culture Week, which received at least 1,535 artists and athletes from all over the country. . “Every few kilometers we had to stop; You don’t know what we’ve had to see, that’s why we sang to keep our morale high during the journey,” says Tamboura.
In fact, the convoy not only accompanied the Sahelian artists, but was also joined by hundreds of trucks loaded with food and gasoline, on which more than a million people living in this region depend. according to the Burkinabe National Statistics Institute. The Support Group for Islam and Muslims (JNIM, by its acronym in Arabic), is one of the most active jihadist groups in the Sahel, and sets up checkpoints on the roads to “check the identity of the person, steal motorcycles , food or gasoline, as well as having to pay a toll in exchange for security,” according to this report from the conflict monitoring organization ACLED.
Sport as an escape route
Kadiata Tamboura practices traditional wrestling, a sport normally reserved for men. “Before I started, people already discouraged me, but I stopped listening to what they would say and continued,” explains the young woman, who returns home with a prize of 100,000 francs (152 euros). Diallo has not had the same luck, but neither has the same opportunities. “I waited four months for the wood to arrive in Dori to make the bow and arrows, but it was not until I arrived in Bobo-Dioulasso that I was able to practice again.” At night, when there was no competition, her classmates would turn on their cell phone flashlights and improvise an archery training center at the Sangoulé Lamizana stadium in Bobo-Dioulasso, the second largest city in the country.
Leaving Dori meant breathing again for these two young people. “We have relaxed a little,” says Tamboura, who shared the trip with 15 other young people. “One day we were sleeping and a door slammed, everyone woke up scared, we don’t live in peace,” recalls the young woman, who studies livestock production, a profession that runs in her family.
Before I used to go out to the outskirts of the city with the cattle, now at six in the afternoon I am locked in the house
Kadiata Tamboura
The majority of the population of the Sahel region is of the Peul ethnic group, also known as Fulani, characteristic for being nomadic, livestock farmers and now one of the most stigmatized, accused of having a relationship with terrorism due to the strong presence of members of the same in jihadist groups. The city of Dori was one of the most active sheep, lamb and cow markets in the Sahel, as it connected with Mali and Niger. “Before I used to go out to the outskirts of the city with the cattle, now at six in the afternoon I am locked in the house,” says Tamboura.
Diallo studies Sociology at the Dori University Center. Although the Sahelian sun does not rise in Bobo-Dioulasso, Diallo wears the hat typical of his ethnic group, called tinguare in Fulani language. “He is more afraid than me because he is a man,” says Tamboura, pointing to his partner.
Living in the epicenter of global terrorism
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, that is, the central part of the sub-Saharan region of Africa, has become the epicenter of terrorism, with one in three deaths in the world as a result of jihadism, according to the report published by the Institute for Economy and Peace. Although Tamboura has not read it, he is clear about it: “Right now young people have become aware that only the struggle can free us, that we must stand up, unite and defend ourselves. There are many young people who have joined the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland,” he says, referring to citizen militias with more than 50,000 registered and armed by the Government, which act alongside the army.
“Even women play a very important role,” says Diallo, to which Tamboura does not respond. When asked what that role is, the young man limits himself to saying that with the existing insecurity, there is information that cannot be said.
At the moment, both Tamboura and Diallo hope to return to Dori as soon as possible, although they do not know when they will be able to do so. We have to wait for the return convoy and this depends on military decisions. Diallo does not want to talk about insecurity, only about the future. “I have the guiding staff [insignia de la etnia peul y una herramienta histórica para guiar el rebaño] and for now I would like to work in public service,” he says. You don’t have to go far, since “extraordinary things can also happen in the capital of the Sahel”, a region where 8 out of 10 young people are out of the educational system and without work.
Aarouna, coach of Diallo and Tamboura, as well as a promoter of traditional fighting in the Sahel, affirms: “There are young people who study, others who work and some who do nothing, so sport is a way of organizing them and not being dedicate themselves to other activities.” “When you say you come from the Sahel, people are surprised,” explains Aarouna. “With traditional wrestling we do not seek to harm the opponent, but rather to make him remain with his back on the ground,” says the coach.
It is a sport that requires passion and tradition. During combat, the griots [narradores tradicionales] They sing and make music to remind the fighters that “their ancestors did it better” and thus motivate them. “We train on weekends, but there are many students who also have to work, so it gets complicated,” says Aarouna, who concludes: “We can’t leave the city, but we make an effort to continue making our lives.”
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